


Rend

by jehobvihosabi



Category: Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones, Howl no Ugoku Shiro | Howl's Moving Castle
Genre: Canon - Book & Movie Combination, Character Study, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 00:42:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jehobvihosabi/pseuds/jehobvihosabi
Summary: “There’s no such thing as a free wish.”





	Rend

. **★** .

To begin. 

To fall, skip along the water, and fall again, a bright, brief existence swiftly submerging into nothingness. Howell watched the cycle repeat, his heart heeding an equivalent beat. It rose, sank, and rose once more. 

Pain gripped him, pity overfilling his core.

He whirled every which way to see an identical scene dyeing his surroundings in a kaleidoscopic spectrum of colors all around. It was a fantastical sight— straight out of a fairy tale. His eyes widened as they roamed the star-lit, midnight canopy beckoning him from above. Howell rubbed his eyes. It didn’t disappear. Disbelief coursed through his restless veins. He closed his eyes, imploring. A single desire swirled inside him begging to be realized. He clasped his hands.

And so, Howell Jenkins made a **wish**.

_And what a grand wish it was._

He re-opened his eyes, intention lining his expression. His eyes alighted on a star only just starting its descent. He skipped over hurriedly, his hands held out in front of him. Howell couldn’t tear his gaze away; he was _lost_. Its light was blinding and its glow effervescent. It fell… it fell… it fell right into his waiting hands. 

He brought it up level with his eyes, confidence underlying his every movement. Up close, the sound of crackling resounded richly and heat lashed out, fashioning a flush upon his face. A little flame was wildly flickering in his hands, panicked. His heart trembled, awed.

The star reflected in his eyes. “Please, don’t be afraid,” he spoke, so, _so_ soft, in the midst of his roaring surroundings, little flames still ceaselessly plummeting all around. The flame calmed, and so Howell continued speaking. He told the little flame many things; but most importantly, he divulged his dearest wish and the flame divulged theirs. 

He also learned the name of the flame: Calcifer. _Its name was Calcifer._

Calcifer guided and Howell complied. He tipped his head back and swallowed a small sun down… down… down. It was as if the star was exploding inside him; hot and immense, he clutched at his chest. The sensation faded and at that moment, 

_Howell died_ and **Howl was born**.

 

. **★** .

**Howl was heartless.**

There was an empty void where there should have been a flutter, a beat, or even a thundering; instead, _silence_ reigned. He would sometimes  ~~ rarely~~ rest his hand over his heart  ~~ where there should have been a heart~~ and there would be  n o t h i n g.A void is all that ever was and ever will be _for a heart had been promised_.

The gnawing absence eventually dived deep beneath his notice and Howl _forgot_. He forgot the warmth; he forgot how it felt to thrill, even how it was to despair. He sauntered through life with only the vaguest feelings of loss. 

**If he laughed, it was for the things he had forgotten.**

 

. **★** .

**Fruitlessly, he searched.**

Without what was needed, it was an impossible task. Howl tirelessly attempted, unknowing that it would never be returned to him.

He charmed ( _too easily_ ), he fawned ( _too eagerly_ ), he laughed ( _too readily_ ), yet yet yet 

**in the sea of smiles directed at him, he was at a loss.**

 

. **★** .

**Sophie was a force of nature.**

She came in suddenly, quietly. No notice one moment, the repeating pattern threading Howl’s life continued unbothered; but the next, _the next_ , there. she. was. And the upending of everything around her was only natural. Howl was no match. She came, and a new rhythm emerged, a different beat to any previously heard.

**and Howl was taken along.**

 

. **★** .

**Sophie carried a mystery.**

A powerful curse shadowed her every footstep. Yet when removed, she insisted on reapplying, taking the task on, herself. 

An… oddity, she was; Howl found himself enraptured in a way he had never experienced before. He thought it was the allure of a mystery, but it was her. 

**_Oh_ , it was ** **her**.

 

. **★** .

**She defied the stars and a star she became.**

Her eyes lit with fancy, her hair shining like starlight, and her presence calling at him; the vision of what he’d been searching for, Sophie clutched at his arms. 

**She gave him back what was lost _and the world started to sing_. **

**Author's Note:**

> **REND**
> 
>  
> 
> verb  
> \- _tear (something) into two or more pieces._
> 
> ARCHAIC  
> \- _wrench (something) violently._
> 
> LITERARY  
> \- _cause great emotional pain to (a person or their **heart** )._


End file.
